Lee's Will, In re
| Decision Date | 24 August 1956 |
| Citation | 156 N.Y.S.2d 813,3 Misc.2d 1072 |
| Parties | In re LEE'S WILL. In the Matter of the Judicial Settlement of the Account of Proceedings of James T. KILBRETH and Linzee Blagden as trustee of the trust for the benefit of Christine Elizabeth Kuebler under the last Will and Testament of Caroline King Lee, Deceased, and for a construction of said will and the determination of the fee of the petitioners' attorneys and for leave to the representatives of the deceased trustees to distribute the trust assets. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
Emmet, Marvin & Martin, New York City, for petitioners.
John M. Bovey, New York City, for Trudeau-Saranac Institute, Inc.
Jacob K. Javits, Atty. Gen., of the State of New York (Kenneth D. Shearer, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel).
George B. Fargis, New York City, for Margaret Lee Crofts and Catharine Lee Warfield. Schmidt & McCormick, New York City, for respondents Edward King Davis and Gerald Davis (John F. Gilligan, New York City, of counsel).
Humes, Smith & Andrews, New York City, for Princeton Bank & Trust Co. (George W. Saam and Albridge C. Smith, III, of counsel).
Oudin, Kilbreth & Schackno, New York City, pro se, and on behalf of Stryker, Tams & Horner (Irving Miller, New York City, of counsel).
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, New York City, for Community Service Society.
George N. Whittlesey, New York City, for the Children's Aid Society.
In this proceeding, involving a testamentary trust, the representatives of two deceased trustees ask for a final order to settle the account of the trustees, to construe the will of the decedent and direct the distribution of the fund in the trust, to determine and direct the payment of certain fees and expenses, and to determine and allow certain commissions. A number of issues are required to be resolved. The most important--and the most interesting--of the problems is that which involves a bequest to The Trudeau Sanatorium, at Saranac Lake, New York.
Incorporated in 1889 as a domestic charitable corporation, Trudeau is now known as The Trudeau-Saranac Institute, Inc. At the time of the execution of the will, in May of 1929, Trudeau's business and objectives were '(1) the reception, care and treatment of persons afflicted with tuberculosis and other diseases; (2) the prosecution of reserches into the causes, the nature and the treatment of the said diseases; (3) the teaching of all that pertains to the said diseases; and (4) the establishment and maintenance of a sanatorium, laboratories, and schools, together with cottages or buildings in connection therewith, for the said purposes.' For many years prior to December 1, 1954, Trudeau-Saranac Institute, Inc. (under its present name or under its former names) was engaged primarily in two activities which were conducted at Saranac Lake, New York: the treatment of patients suffering from tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases, and research in connection with such diseases and with the treatment thereof. During that period it maintained a sanatorium at Saranac for the treatment of tubercular patients, and a number of laboratories, schools, departments and divisions at Saranac and elsewhere.
The testatrix, Caroline King Lee, suffered from tuberculosis of the throat. She used to visit Saranac quite often, and eventually purchased a home there. She occupied the house at Saranac for long intervals of time, and she had some treatments for her illness at Trudeau. She became interested generally in the treatment of and cure for tuberculosis and specifically in the hospitals in the Saranac area and in Trudeau. The testatrix died on July 23, 1929, a resident of the State of New Jersey, and her will (executed the preceding May) was there duly admitted to probate. In that will she directed that a trust fund in the amount of $100,000 be set up for Christine Elizabeth Kuebler ('my valued friend and devoted nurse companion'), the income to be paid to her for life, and, on her death, the principal of the fund to be distributed in the amounts of $50,000 to various individuals and $50,000 to various charitable organizations. The clause in the will (Paragraph 'Fourth'), to which present attention must be directed, reads as follows:
'Thirty-eight thousand dollars ($38,000) thereof to 'The Trudeau Sanatorium' of Essex County, New York, incorporated under the laws of New York, March 4, 1889, and I request the Board of Trustees of said sanatorium to use a portion of the said sum of thirty-eight thousand dollars ($38,000) for the purpose of building a cottage to be known as the 'Lee Memorial Cottage' for patients resorting to said sanatorium, and to invest and keep invested so much of said sum as may not be expended for such purposes and to apply the income therefrom to the upkeep of such cottage and towards the cost of maintaining such patients.'
In Article Twelfth of her will, the testatrix included in her residuary estate 'all lapsed legacies and any part of my estate which may not have been effectually devised or bequeathed.' The life beneficiary, Christine Elizabeth Kuebler, died on February 20, 1954, a resident of the State of New Jersey. Elizabeth King Davis, a cousin of the testatrix, was the residuary legatee; she died on April 11, 1942, a resident of the State of New York.
The first question presented is whether this court has and should exercise jurisdiction in the premises. It is my view that (in the circumstances disclosed by this record) it has and that it should, although the settlor died a resident of New Jersey, National City Bank of New York v. Beebe, Sup., 131 N.Y.S.2d 67, affirmed 285 App.Div. 874, 139 N.Y.S.2d 238, appeal dismissed 308 N.Y. 960, 127 N.E.2d 100, and although a testamentary and not an inter vivos trust is involved. Cf. Matter of Bankers Trust Co. [Sigmund H. Lehman, Deceased], 284 App.Div. 888, 134 N.Y.S.2d 609; Matter of Ranft's Will, 268 App.Div. 136, 49 N.Y.S.2d 125; Matter of Smith, 120 App.Div. 199, 105 N.Y.S. 223; Post v. Ingraham, 122 App.Div. 738, 107 N.Y.S. 737; Noll v. Ruprecht, 256 App.Div. 926, 9 N.Y.S.2d 651, affirmed 282 N.Y. 598, 25 N.E.2d 386; Matter of Deutsch's Estate, 186 Misc. 446, 56 N.Y.S.2d 768, affirmed 270 App.Div. 920, 62 N.Y.S.2d 608; Matter of Volk's Estate, Sur., 46 N.Y.S.2d 459, 461, affirmed 267 App.Div. 818, 868, 47 N.Y.S.2d 99, 310; Sullivan v. Title Guarantee & Trust Co., 2 Cir., 167 F.2d 393; Ris v. Ris, 257 App.Div. 845, 12 N.Y.S.2d 154; 9th Ann.Rep.Jud. Council [1943] p. 308. The funds constituting this trust are and have been physically located in New York State. The trustees were residents of this state. All interested parties have appeared generally in this court; and after, initial presentation of the matter and a conference in chambers, the parties entered into a stipulation with reference (in part) to jurisdiciton, the relevant portions of which read as follows:
'First: That the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, has jurisdiction in rem in the above entitled matter and also in personam of all the parties interested therein, and all said parties hereby submit to said jurisdiction and consent to the exercise thereof by the saie Court.
'Second: That the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, is the proper forum in which the above entitled proceeding should be brought, and all parties interested therein hereby consent to the jurisdiction of said Court.'
The existence or assumption of jurisdiction does not, of course, necessarily involve a chauvinistic application of domestic judicial edict. For, as I see the second problem presented in this proceeding (the law of which state governs?) I find that it is appropriate to construe the will according to the law of New Jersey, Decedent Estate Law, § 47, which, quite fortunately and fortuitously (although equally incidentally and coincidentally), appears--on the critical issues--not to be in conflict with the law of the State of New York--at least insofar as the laws of those states are presently ascertainable by me. Nor does it envisage a conflict between the limited jurisdiction of our Surrogate's Court on the one hand, and the general jurisdiction of our Supreme Court on the other. For no proceedings are pending in any of the Surrogate's Courts of this State with respect to the will or trust here involved, and none is likely or contemplated within the foreseeable future.
The principal issue revolves around the contention of the heirs of the residuary legatee that the bequest to Trudeau has lapsed, and that, in consequence, by the express terms of the will, the failure of the legacy causes it to fall into the residuary estate. In support of their contention that the legacy has lapsed, these heirs urge that the direction to erect and maintain--as a part of the sanatorium--a cottage (to be known as the 'Lee Memorial Cottage') for patient residential purposes is mandatory, and that since Trudeau has abandoned such type of treatment and care, the testatrix's direction will not be effectuated by an award to Trudeau. At this point it would be meet to present a short statement of the relevant facts as disclosed by the record before me.
There has, for a number of years, been a nationwide decrease in the number of tubercular sanatorium patients (including those at Trudeau in Saranac). This is due to several causes, indicating (quite happily) that scientific and social development and understanding are constantly and effectively seeking to cope with this malady and its ravages. Among these causes are the early detection of the disease, the use of new drugs and of new surgical methods in treating such diseases, and free tuberculosis care for the general public. Thus it is that recent changes in the treatment of tuberculosis have diminished the need for sanatoria. But the need for research and study remains, for there are still many important and unsolved problems in the...
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